Educators Who Register Their Students Before June 30th Can Enter to Win a Free Classroom Library of 50 Books

NEW YORK – On April 6, 2015 Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL) launched student pre-registration (K-8th Grade) for the 2015 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge at scholastic.com/summer. Now in its ninth year, this free, global reading program motivates children to read for fun throughout the summer months by logging their reading minutes, earning rewards and helping to break the world record of 304,749,681 minutes read (set in summer 2014). The top elementary school that logs the most minutes this summer will win a visit from bestselling author Michael Northrop, and the top middle school that logs the most minutes will win a visit from bestselling author Varian Johnson.

FOR EDUCATORS

Exclusive access in April: Educators can pre-register their students, class and/or school before the challenge officially launches on May 4th, 2015.

Chance to win prizes: Educators who pre-register their students before June 30th will be entered to win a free classroom library of 50 books.

Free summer reading tools:

Educator dashboard: Educators can have access to track their students reading minutes throughout the summer.

Emails to parents (in English or Spanish): The educator dashboard provides automated emails for educators to send to students’ parents throughout the summer to remind and motivate them to keep reading.

Free original stories and videos from bestselling authors: As kids enter their reading minutes, they can unlock 12 original short stories and access never-before-seen videos from these authors.

Dynamic creative writing game: Students can play a new “innovation machine” game and write their own short story. This game encourages kids to create a one-of-a-kind story with fun story starters and wacky vocabulary combinations; plus they can enter into a contest to win prizes.

Ultimate goal of setting a new reading world record: Students read and log minutes to help set a new world record for summer reading. This summer kids need to read beyond the current record of 304,749,681 minutes.

“When students discover a book they love, they are motivated to read more, understand more and learn more, and summer is the ideal time to help make this possible,” said Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company. “The Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge has created a global reading movement among schools to get more students to commit to achieving personal summer reading goals in order to help their school achieve top honors – it is a true win-win for reading.”

SUMMER READING STATISTICS:

Teachers spend four to six weeks re-teaching materials students because of the “summer slide – the learning losses which can occur when school is not in session.1

Children who read four or more books over the summer fare better on reading comprehension tests in the fall than their peers who read one or no books over the summer, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic level or previous achievement. 2

Ninety-one percent of children ages 6–17 say “my favorite books are the ones that I have picked out myself” and 71% of children 6–17 say, “I’m more likely to finish a book I choose myself.” 3

The majority of children of all ages (6-17) say when reading for fun, they want “books that make me laugh” (70%).4

“Birdman” is a dramedy starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Zach Galifianakis among others. Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thompson an actor known for a superhero role from his past (not unlike Keaton himself) who is now trying to regain relevance and prove his worth as a serious actor by putting on a dramatic stage production.

“Birdman” features a lot of comedy, which could be argued as its primary genre, but the film features incredibly strong dramatic elements as well. The film has a very good grasp of its tones and blends the genres wonderfully. It is very funny on more than one level and had me laughing multiple times throughout. “Birdman” is capable of being funny and serious within the same scene, and even within the same moment. A scene that begins with a comedic tone can evolve into a highly emotional confrontation and vice versa. The dialogue in “Birdman” always feels natural and more notably features incredibly dynamic and realistic arguments. In most movies if an argument is going to take place, the character will initiate their dialogue directly in the conflict, but in “Birdman” characters may start an argument about something small and inconsequential and use it to ramp up to the issues that truly plague their minds, as people often do.

The acting is fantastic all around. Every single performance, no matter how small is perfect. This is Michael Keaton’s largest role in quite a while and he deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance in this film. In fact “Birdman” also deserves Oscar nominations for best picture, director, and cinematography at least. Keaton’s character is very complex and makes for an impressive performance. Edward Norton is pretty much great in every role he plays and here is no exception. Emma Stone and Naomi Watts are both excellent as well and each of them are given scenes where they can really showcase their full acting ability. I was thinking that Zach Galifianakis might have been playing a purely comedic role, but he also has an opportunity to show off some impressive dramatic acting alongside the comedy.

The score to “Birdman” is great. It creates a fully defined style for the film right from the opening credits. The music done by Antonio Sanchez is fantastic. The soundtrack features mostly percussion and was stuck in head hours after the movie ended. “Birdman” features a soundtrack worth owning on its own and serves as the final layer of glaze on an already excellent film.

The most impressive aspect of “Birdman” is the way it is shot. The entire film aside from a short sequence is presented as one continuous unbroken shot. There are cuts in the film, but they are hidden. The editing is disguised to look as the camera is floating through the environment as an observer. As a filmmaker I can recognize places where cuts may have been placed, but most people likely won’t. I was amazed by the cinematography. The filming style had me completely captivated and serves to make the viewer more immersed in the film. The single continuous shot is a technical marvel and especially impressive when considering that the film takes place over multiple days in a variety of locations.

The presentation of Birdman is simply amazing. The director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, is a true master of his craft. The direction of Birdman as a whole is impeccable. This is a true feat of filmmaking.

Birdman is one of the best films of 2014. Everything about it, right down to the credits, is perfect. For now Birdman is in limited release and I was able to see it at Red River Theatres in Concord, NH. Definitely check this film out if you can.

The movie stars Danbury, NH residents, Cathy Nolan Vinčević and her husband Seval Vinčević , and was filmed in various locations around New Hampshire. The natural beauty of the area plays a sharp contrast to the hauntingly dark nature of the film. This frightening psychological thriller/horror short film was written and directed by local film maker, Sam Kench.

“Til Death” premiered at The Purple Pit Coffee Lounge in Bristol, NH on October 17, 2014. The movie was shown again during the opening night reception of Sam’s art show at The Gordon-Nash Library in New Hampton, NH. Following each showing the director and actors held lively Q & A session with audience members who asked questions about special effects, motivation, and how different shots were done. Most viewers said they would never look at Cathy (who is the director of the Gordon-Nash Library), the same way again.

So, what’s up next from the creative mind of Sam Kench? He’s working on writing and filming a project called “Tales from the Wasteland”. It’s a feature length film, set in post apocalyptic New Hampshire, comprised of a series of vignettes. If you’d like to be involved and help give this project wings, follow this link https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tales-from-the-wasteland to support the Indiegogo campaign.

Please keep in mind these are Horror Movies and the video reviews contain content from the films that may not be appropriate for younger viewers, or those with a weak constitution for that matter.

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Description from Amazon “Struggling photographer Leon Kauffman’s obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer, Mahogany, the subway murderer who stalks late-night commuters — ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways imaginable.”

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Product Description “In the blood-chilling tradition of Halloween and Village of the Damned comes John Carpenter’s unique vision of the ultimate killing machines, VAMPIRES. “Forget everything you’ve ever heard about vampires,” warns Jack Crow (James Woods), the leader of Team Crow, a relentless group of mercenary vampire slayers. When Master Vampire Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) decimates Jack’s entire team, Crow and the sole team survivor, Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), set out in pursuit. Breaking all the rules, Crow and Montoya take one of Valek’s victims hostage. The beautiful but unlucky prostitute (Sheryl Lee) is their sole psychic link to Valek, and through her senses they will track down the leader of the undead. As Valek nears the climax of his 600-year search for the Berziers Cross, Jack and the new Team Crow do everything humanly possible to prevent him from possessing the only thing that can grant him and all vampires the omnipotent power to walk in the daylight.”

Please keep in mind these are Horror Movies and the video reviews contain content from the films that may not be appropriate for younger viewers, or those with a weak constitution for that matter.Remember to visit every day for the latest video review. Or just subscribe to our posts by entering your email over where it says SUBSCRIBE on the right hand side of the screen and get our posts in your inbox.

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Description from Amazon “Confront terrors both known and unknown in a explosive battle for survival with F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin for PS3. This action-packed follow-up to Monolith Productions’s award-winning supernatural shooter F.E.A.R. begins where the previous game left off. This time, you’ll come up against Alma’s powers from the perspective of special forces operator Michael Becket. After an enormous explosion has devastated the city of Auburn, you’ll quickly discover that what seemed like an ordinary mission to retrieve and interrogate Genevieve Aristide is anything but.”

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“F.E.A.R. is an intense combat experience with rich atmosphere and a deeply intense paranormal storyline presented entirely in first person. Be the hero in your own spine-tingling epic of action and terror… and discover the true meaning of F.E.A.R.”

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